Las Vegas Sun Newsreal estate:
Las Vegas house prices up as inventory shrinks
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8 June 2012
9:47 a.m.
Existing home prices in the Las Vegas area in May edged up from April, and total sales increased, the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors reported Thursday.
The group said the median single-family home price was $128,000, up 0.1 percent from April and up 1.6 percent from one year ago.
The median price of local condominiums and townhomes sold in May was $62,000, up 3.5 percent from April but down 1.2 percent from May 2011, the GLVAR said.
Sales of existing local homes, condominiums and townhomes in May totaled 4,134 — up from 3,924 in April and 3,991 in May 2011.
The sales increase came even as the inventory of properties for sale declined. This has been attributed to a slowdown in foreclosures and an increase in short sales in which banks let struggling homeowners sell their homes for less than the mortgage amount.
All of this is tied to a new state law boosting documentation requirements for foreclosures so that homeowners aren’t harmed by mass robosigning practices.
“Basically, we’re seeing a classic case of supply and demand,” GLVAR President Kolleen Kelley said in a statement. “Our local housing supply is going down, primarily because banks are putting fewer homes on the market. As a result, prices are going up.”
Despite the foreclosure slowdown locally, Nevada still leads the nation in foreclosure activity, while Las Vegas is No. 7 among large metro areas.
Separately, Gov. Brian Sandoval on June 1 announced that Nevada had been selected for a pilot program to help homeowners underwater on their mortgages.
The program approved by the U.S. Treasury Department allows eligible borrowers to receive up to $50,000 in principal reduction when they refinance through the “HARP 2.0” program.
Home financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are encouraging loan servicers to participate in the program, which is aimed at driving down monthly payments and keeping qualified borrowers in their homes, Sandoval said.
“Principal reduction combined with mortgage refinancing will mean hundreds of dollars returning to the pockets of homeowners. This effort represents our continued focus on combatting the worst housing crisis seen in a generation and in the state hit hardest by it,” said Terry Johnson, director of the state Department of Business & Industry. That’s the parent agency of the Nevada Housing Division, which is involved in the principal reduction effort.
For more information, see HomeMeansNevada.gov.
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Great. Now any normal family that is trying to buy without all cash in is screwed.
Not only are realtors not going to have patience for mortgages, but they won't even show you the house I bet. Spoiled.
Sucks to be a real buyer.
No according to Zillow.com. Went down at least another $20K in the past 2 weeks.
Mr. Davis,
Since Zillow has not updated for Las Vegas city or Clark County since April 30th don't think your conclusion is correct.
Funny, in the last Ten years of Zillow numbers there has never been a 20k drop in any two week period in the State of Nevada.
I know some like to say Vegas is failing but fact is it is coming back one small step at a time.
@sevenhills..you are correct. An article in the RJ today said that investors were outbidding each other on "nice" properties without getting appraisals. These bids are for over asking price too. The normal buyer has to have an appraisal to get a mortgage. This is exactly what started happening in 2003 - 2004 that started the previous bubble and it's happening again. I went for a short sale and was able to close (after 4 months) because the cash investors want foreclosures since the process is much quicker.